Tag: artists

Mingei celebrates San Diego Craft Collective.

The Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park has a great exhibit outside its east entrance that celebrates the San Diego Craft Collective. Beautiful objects crafted by members of the collective are proudly displayed!

A collaboration between the Mingei and the San Diego Craft Collective makes perfect sense. The museum collects, conserves and exhibits folk art, craft, and design. The family-friendly San Diego Craft Collective, located in Liberty Station, teaches it members traditional craft, including woodworking, ceramics, textiles, fiber arts, glass art and more. They are dedicated to sustainability, utilizing natural and recycled materials. The collective even teaches organic gardening!

A couple years ago I visited the San Diego Craft Collective. I was amazed by the extent of their facility and the diversity of work by its members. If you want to read that past blog post and see those photographs, click here.

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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness in San Diego.

A new exhibition is on display in the windows of The Courthouse Gallery in downtown San Diego. It’s titled Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

I was walking down Broadway past the Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse when I spied the beautiful artwork this morning.

You can learn more about the exhibition and the talented local artists by clicking here!

These photos represent a fraction of the current exhibition.

When you go for a walk, there’s no telling what you might discover!

Nature murals near Gaylord Resort in Chula Vista.

Last weekend, while walking around the new Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center in Chula Vista, I stumbled upon these three very beautiful murals. They’re located near the water park at the southwest corner of the resort, next to the roundabout at the end of H Street. They decorate a small plaza.

The artist of all three murals is Lauren Elyse S. According to information beside each mural, she’s a San Diego interdisciplinary artist who loves the medium of paint and how brushstrokes communicate mood and energy. You can see her love for nature in the images she created!

I’ve noticed the Gaylord Resort has also placed informative signs about our natural environment in various spots near outdoor walkways. Very cool!

Lilac, Pine, Cypress, Sage by artist Lauren Elyse S., 2025. A painted landscape, inspired by the radiant light in Chula Vista.
Spilled Honey by artist Lauren Elyse S., 2025. Inspired by spring plant life in the mountains of Chula Vista.
Coral Hour by artist Lauren Elyse S., 2025. Depicting the trees of Chula Vista Bayfront Park, with the Coronado Bay Bridge in the background.

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Escondido Creek Trail Outdoor Art Gallery debuts!

Two days ago the Escondido Creek Trail Outdoor Art Gallery made its official debut!

Having missed the ceremony, I headed up to Escondido today to enjoy my first look.

Congratulations to ESCO ALLEY ART, the community organization that presented these six murals to the City of Escondido. To learn more about their ongoing efforts to beautify Escondido, visit ESCO ALLEY ART’s website here.

These half dozen murals each measure 15 by 10 feet, depict local flora and fauna, and were transferred onto Aluminum Composite Material. Their super shiny surfaces made photography without reflections nearly impossible. I did my best!

The murals are located on the Neighborhood Healthcare building at 460 North Elm Street. They face the Escondido Creek Trail–a pedestrian and bike path that is presently undergoing improvement. (I noticed some of the improvements during my walk and will blog about that coming up.)

Curious who the mural artists are? Check out the captions of my photographs…

Nature Watching by artist Laura Green.
Coyote by artist Berthis Myers.
Wildlife in the Poppies by artist Joanne Sullivan.
Aspire by artist Kat Furrow.
Tunas Doradas by artist Andres Marin.
California Dreaming by artist LaRetta Small-Zamora.

This ESCO ALLEY ART webpage links to information concerning each artist!

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Painting huge murals downtown on The Torrey!

Huge, super colorful murals are being painted in downtown San Diego. Once completed, there will be four murals, one on each side of The Torrey’s new high-rise. The Torrey is located at 1200 Front Street, where the north part of the old downtown courthouse used to stand.

This morning during my walk I noticed two artists working on the east side mural. I’d stumbled upon Australian husband-and-wife visual artists who go by the name DABSMYLA. They’re out of Los Angeles. Here’s their website. That’s them in the above photograph!

Two murals are finished, they’re now working on the third, and I was told a fourth will be painted on the south side of the building, once the old courthouse bridge over B Street is demolished.

Super cool!

These first photos show the mural they’re working on presently, on the building’s east side. All of their artwork is full of bold imagery from nature, including San Diego’s beautiful coast.

On the north side…

And on the west side (where there’s some new, interesting stump art on the sidewalk which I’ll blog about)…

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Balboa Park art exhibit celebrates Logan Heights.

This weekend you have one last chance to experience a very special exhibition of art in Balboa Park. Members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild are exhibiting work that celebrates the history and culture of Logan Heights and other neighborhoods along Imperial Avenue east of downtown San Diego.

One Day in the Life on Imperial is the title of the exhibition, now on display in Gallery 21 of Balboa Park’s Village Arts Center (still known widely as Spanish Village).

Last month, at the TULAROSA gallery, I visited the first version of this exhibition. It has greatly expanded and moved since then, and many more diverse artworks are now collected together for visitors to enjoy!

The art you’ll encounter shows what life is like along historic Imperial Avenue. Families and shopkeepers, happiness and struggles–every aspect of a community is the subject matter of local artists who walked the street, absorbing all they experienced. Many of the resulting pieces are energetic and colorful.

One Day in the Live on Imperial continues through Monday, April 20th, 2026. If you’re heading to Balboa Park this weekend, you ought to swing by!

A few examples…

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Colors of Ovalesque in the Escondido sky!

A cool kinetic sculpture stands in Escondido at the intersection of Valley Boulevard and East Grand Avenue. It’s called, appropriately, Ovalesque. Two ovals containing dichroic glass move independently in the wind, flashing brilliant sunlit colors!

Jeffrey Laudenslager and Deanne Sabeck collaborated to create this beautiful sculpture in 2024. If you want to view more of Jeffrey’s kinetic sculptures, check out his Instagram page here. See Ovalesque moving about by clicking here.

Over the years, walking around San Diego and North County, I’ve stumbled upon quite a few Jeffrey Laudenslager sculptures.

These photos of Ovalesque were taken during my most recent Escondido walk. It was somewhat overcast that day. Imagine bright sunlight and beautiful colors moving through a blue sky!

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Warhammer 40k cosplay at Comic-Con Museum!

Some of the most jaw-dropping Warhammer 40k cosplay creations are now on display in San Diego’s Comic-Con Museum! They’re gigantic and amazing in their detail! For an idea of scale, see my first photo.

Head downstairs and walk into the gallery devoted to costumes created for Comic-Con’s world-famous Masquerade. Among other fantastic creations, you’ll see these Warhammer 40k character suits that can actually be worn. They are made out of EVA foam sheets by Joe Ramirez.

Not surprisingly, Joe has won multiple awards for his cosplay productions. His handle is @Beyonderjoe.

The costumes in this gallery change from time to time, so make sure to have a new look every time you visit the museum.

Scrolls of wisdom unroll in downtown San Diego!

In downtown San Diego, numerous scrolls of wisdom are waiting to be unrolled. If you step into the studio of artist James Watts (@jewattso), you can easily attain that wisdom!

James was at work in his studio this morning, and I said hello. He showed me one of the projects he’s now working on. There on one table were a bunch of new scrolls!

Last year I posted a blog about his ambitious scroll project. I explained his handmade scrolls are painted on fabric and utilize wood sticks he’s found, cut to size and sanded smooth. He loves philosophy, religion and literature, and bits of inspired thought make their way into his work.

Yes, indeed, it is what it is!

And more!

He accompanies the wise sayings with still life paintings. Such as an egg and swiss cheese. Interpret as you may!

I don’t know whether you had a chance to see James Watts’ exhibition at the Oceanside Museum of Art four years ago. If you didn’t, click here and check it out!

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Mural at Best Little Hair House in Escondido.

This mural beautifies a wall outside Best Little Hair House at 332 E. 2nd Avenue in Escondido. I noticed it during my most recent walk in Escondido. Enjoy a couple photos!

According to this article, the title of the art is Bellas Rosas. It was created by Charlie Mejia, teacher at Valley High School and member of the Escondido Mural Committee. The City of Escondido has been supporting the creation of public art as a catalyst for economic growth.

This mural replaced another one decorating the same wall. You can see photographs taken in 2023 of that old, faded mural by clicking here.

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